I think $149 is a great price for what you get. Of course you can get similar results with freebies, but not the same (+ most freebies are PC only).

I gave the beta versions a spin earlier and I quite liked all of these effects. Why not try the demo and see what you think.

Beatman

Thanks Ronnie! I did download the demo, but haven’t installed them yet; so I don’t know how they sound.

I don’t own a Mac, so that’s no issue for me. Don’t forget, a lot of commercial developers also release freeware, so it’s not simply the Synth Edit and SynthMaker plugins that’s free. Also, Some developers also release products that were once payware and may have ceased development or updates.

The freeware Sanford plugin series,for example… have a pro hardware quality sound to them IMO, and they’re not made with SE or SM. I’ve tried plenty of non freeware by various developers both commercial ones and shareware, and I don’t find free vs. pay, to be proportionate to sound quality. A lot of freeware blows payware in the sand. I also noticed that the sound quality of all plugins tends to differ based on the host they’re used in. I may like a plugin in one host but hate the sound it has in another.

Don’t forget, the regular price is $200 with the $150 being introductory. I don’t dispute the quality or worth of these plugs. I just think given the state of the economy and the vast choices of freeware that’s available… that the bundle thing ONLY is a bit much. I feel there should be more options available that suits the needs of potential customers. Most company’s offer single and bundle packages.

While I don’t disagree with you necessarily, Beatman, keep in mind that they are written by Urs Heckmann of Zebra2 fame, so you know they are absolutely the top in DSP. And when you consider that most professional effect bundles are well over $500, I think Urs is hitting his market just about right. If you were going to pick up the roughly same equivalent of plugins from AudioDamage, one of the more sensible priced plugin developers out there, it would be a little more than these full cost.

I do agree, when I look at one and say, meh, it makes me less inclined to buy them all.

Beatman

Yes, I agree they’re reasonably priced considering the market, as compared to some high end developers that charge $1500 or more for a single plugin.

You’re essentially paying for a license to use as compared to hardware which requires far more resources than software does. It’s interesting how some of these plugins exceeds the cost of some high end, pro hardware equipment!

Don’t forget that you’re also paying for copy protection schemes and may have to make additional purchases for dongles or iloks. The cost of incorporating this protection is passed on to the user, so it’s not just a matter of the DSP quality. What does it cost to replicate software compared to the replication of hardware and it’s inner and outer workings?

Another interesting thing is, when you’re doing tracks and you have various elements to mix collectively, I think it becomes more difficult to discern the quality of certain effects. What sounds amazing on a solo aspect, may get buried in a mix.